▪ I. chitty, n. Anglo-Indian.
(ˈtʃɪtɪ)
[a. Hindī chiṭṭhī, Mahrātī chiṭṭī:—Skr. chitra spot, mark, etc.]
‘A letter or note; also, a certificate given to a servant, or the like; a pass’ (Yule).
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. iii. iv. 126, I sent my Gulleon Peon..with his Master's Chitty, or Pass, to the Governor. 1786 Tippoo's Let. 284 (Y.) Every merchant from Muscat who brings you a chitty from Meer Kâzim. 1829 Mem. of Col. Mountain (ed. 2) 80 (Y.) He wanted a chithee or note, for this is the most note-writing country under heaven. |
▪ II. † chitty, a.1 Obs. rare.
[f. chit n.2 + -y1.]
Freckled or warty.
| 1552 Huloet, Chytty, or full of chyttes or wartes, lentiginosus. c 1729 R. Drury Rural Milliners ii. xi, Shall they, such chitty Jades, so happy be. |
▪ III. chitty, a.2
[Apparently deduced from chitty-face, q.v., but afterwards associated with chit n.1]
Said of the face: a. Lean and pinched. b. Puny, childish, baby-like.
| 1616 Pasquil & Kath. i. 229 A chittie, well complexion'd face; And yet it wants a beard. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iv. i. (1651) 519 Every Lover admires his Mistress, though she..have a..lean, thin, chitty face. 1755 Johnson, Chitty, childish, like a baby. |
▪ IV. chitty
var. chetty.